New Chair of Anatomy
Congratulations to Professor Tom Gillingwater who has been appointed to the Chair of Anatomy.
This prestigious Chair was established in 1720 with the appointment of Alexander Monro primus before the official establishment of the then Faculty of Medicine. At that time Anatomy was conducted at Surgeons Hall before moving to the university precinct, in part driven by the public riots that followed accusations of grave robbing. Almost three hundred years later Tom is driving the innovative plans for the new era of Anatomy teaching that will provide a new home and facilities when BMS eventually leaves Teviot Place. Let’s hope he does not have to contend with the sort of problems faced by Monro primus!
In addition to Tom’s enormous contributions to the development of anatomy teaching in Edinburgh over the last few years he has made outstanding contributions in his field of research. His highly collaborative and collegiate team have provided fundamental new insights into the mechanism and treatment of motor neurone diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His research spans the Centre for Integrative Physiology, Centre for Neuroregeneration and the Euan Macdonald Centre and has facilitated the establishment of a new UK consortium funded by The SMA Trust.
Tom is also Editor-in–Chief of the Journal of Anatomy as well as running his own management consultancy, neuroORG.
On behalf of everyone in BMS I would like to congratulate Tom on his appointment and look forward to working with him on the exciting new developments in Anatomy over the next few years.